• Brossard facility is overflowing with schoolkids. Majoring in hockey, no doubt.

• Andrei Markov on the ice. Today’s no-hit jersey colour is teal. No Hal Gill. Rumour that Frederic St. Denis has been called up.

• Pressbox consensus: Best porn star Movember on the team: “Ooh, Mr. Diaz, are you here to unclog my drain?”

• Mike Cammalleri is on the ice.

• Rebound drill: Randy Cunneyworth has set up a three-foot 6×6 on the left side of the blue point. He’s shooting pucks off the board and shooters try to pop the rebound from about five feet out. Easy to do when no one’s checking them.

Now Scott Gomez is practicing turn-around tip-ins on shots off the rebound board.

282 Comments

How long are they going to keep blowing smoke up our as_ _ s regarding Markov. Everyone knows, or should know by now, that this guy is toast and the Habs threw $15M out the window. The Gomez and Markov money is the difference between being a bubble team and competing for the Cup.

There is no point. There are hundreds of picks per year. Everybody misses more than they hit. Every team passed on Subban. Every team passed on Datsyuk. Every team passed on Markov.

What counts are the ones that teams pick. Habs fans have a right to expect better from the team’s scouting department. This is a forum. Are you suggesting we shouldn’t lambaste the Habs because everybody’s doing it? Easy enough to say drafting isn’t an art or science because it is fraught with error.

Well guess what. For every two or three strikes there is a big hit and sometimes even a home run.

So this is my point. Drafting is fundamental to building a championship team or a contender. Would Boston have won if they didn’t draft Bergeron and Krecji? What about Kessel? Not fundamental in the Cup win but still a nice return in Tyler Seguin and Dougie Hamilton if you ask me. What about Philly flipping Carter and Richards. Let me see. Chicago; Kane, Toews. Pittsburgh; Crosby, Malkin. Shall we list Washington’s picks. Because apparently a monkey could build a winner with those picks. Unless that monkey is in Nashville, Atlanta, Columbus, Phoenix… You get my point.

How do you feel about Price, Subban (picked 43) and Pacioretty (picked 22)? Or Desharnais, signed as a free agent because no one drafted him?

By the by: the teams that got Toews, Crosby, Malkin, & Ovetchkin all finished at the bottom of the standings. If the Habs have a fault, it is that they don’t seem to finish close to last, to get that glorious top 10 pick.

The one time recently they did have a top ten, they picked Price at #5. When they did that the TSN panel screached: “this is off the charts” because no one had Price rated that high.

AK stays, he is not easily replaceable, and some of the kids you like (and many of us like) are not ready next year. They are kids. We have a two or three year wait before all this pays off. And Gomez, Martin, Gionta… are gone.

That said, I agree that with a coach who can adjust his system to the players he has (as opposed to some imaginary players Martin has in his head) can unleash the speed and skill some of our players have.

Tomorrow morning would not be soon enough to relieve Martin of his note pads.

HH, wrote:“I don’t get your point but it sounds like you are grasping at straws here.”

Well HH, I thought I was fairly clear. Several posters suggested I was way off a few weeks ago when I suggested that DD was on par with Grabovski, furthermore that I would take him over Graps, cause overall, when you consider his demeanor, he is a better all around teammate/player.

I stand by that. And if you compare where DD is at this stage of his career he is way ahead of where Crabs was at the same point.

As for your point about line mates, up until this year ‘Ole Grabby was the loafs #1 centre getting their best wingers and the most ice time.

Where you really lose me, is with your “grasping at straws” comment. What precisely am I apparently grasping for?

I don’t know what you’re grasping for. You seem to be making excuses for Habs errors by pointing out other teams’. Now it’s full on with the Grabovski hate.

I love DD. I touted him long before he made it to the NHL. I also recognize his weaknesses. He’s slow. If he skated like Gionta he’d be unstoppable. He also gets manhandled and physically knocked off of the puck. He doesn’t win many a pcuk battle along the boards. However, I also recognize his strengths. He is crafty with his play making. He can catch a pass like he has the puck on a string and is reeling it in. For all his lost battles he still perseveres, never flinches, always competes and generally does a good job of covering his own ass when somebody strips the puck off of him.

As for Grabovski. Whatever about his prima donna airplane experience. Did he pull that 100 times? That to me is just bad management. I was sorry to see him go because he and the two Kostitsyns made for a decent Belarussian combo. Not to mention we missed out on having the grabs two mammaries line.

So whatever point you’re trying to make I disagree because it amounts to gratuitously dumping on Grabovski, which IMO is unwarranted . DD might be awesome but Grabs is another wasted draft pick and/or prospect IMO.

I Can’t Explain why I keep thinking that My Generation Won’t Get Fooled Again. It’s Not Enough watching this Substitute. I find myself asking Who Are You Happy Jack? The good news is You Better You Bet The Kids Are Alright.

Andrei Kostisyn before Perry/Getzlaf/Carter/Richards/Kesler/Parise in 2003

OR

David Fischer before Claude Giroux in 2006

Personally, I think its a wash. At least Andrei is a useful player, where Fischer was a complete bust. But picking andrei is still pretty bad just considering how many excellent players were drafted after him.

Tough question, have to lean to Fischer because he never panned out, but few saw Giroux being what he is today. However, given he grew up in teams backyard you would think the team would have the Quebec talent scouted extremely well.

While we obviously would rather have a Getzlaf, AK has been a useful player and was ranked higher.

Both hurt, but we have other drafts where we made the steal. Draft day is probably the GM’s/Scouts toughest day of the year.

How about Mark Napier instead of Mike Bossy? Or Doug Wickenheiser over Denis Savard? Then all those José Charbonneau/Lindsay Vallis/Terry Ryan years. No shortage of bad drafts for this franchise after Sam Pollock and Scotty Bowman left.

The Rocket even went to management and told them they should take Bossy. Bossy is easily one of the top 25 players of all time. Mind you, Napier was a hell of a Marlie, but Bossy was right in Montreal’s backyard.

The Wickenheiser decision was the beginning of the end for the Habs dynasty. I seem to recall that we had maneuvered to get the first pick the year Savard became eligible. The plan was to draft him as the heir to Guy Lafleur. Everyone in Quebec had known for years that he was the next big thing. I think Sam Pollock might have been the one to set it up.

Then, at the last minute, Pollock’s incompetent replacement, Irving Grundman chose Wickenheiser instead because he was big and from the WHL.

Grundman was soon fired and later went on to be a corrupt Montreal City councilor.

A wash? What a joke. Andrei Kostitsyn is a good player, the Fischer pick was a complete waste. Btw: There´s a big difference between the players you mentioned. With Getzlaf, Carter or Richards we wouldn´t have made the Gomez trade, with Parise instead of Kostitsyn on the other hand we wouldn´t be significantly better. When I look at Parise´s stats this season we wouldn´t be better at all.

I also wonder if the Rangers fans still talk about having picked Hugh Jessiman in 2003…

1) When the GM makes a trade, you hate it because it is not the players “you” want;
2) When the team loses, JM needs to be fired and the team sucks;
3) When the team wins, the team sucks because it is not winning “the way” you want them to win.

So does that mean if the Habs went 0-82 playing entertaining firewagon hockey on a team full of All-Stars coached by Scotty Bowman then everything is A-OK?

Been coming on here for nearly 2 years and I’m convinced that if the team won the stanley Cup in 16 games in a season they went 82-0 but 10 games were won in OT or a Shootout, there are posters on here that would still bitch about that.

Question:
If you had the power to make 1 change to the Habs which would you choose:
1)Fire JM and replace with who
2)Fire PG and replace with who
3)Signed Rugged 4th line Forward instead of Nokia Trade
4)Signed Rugged DMan instead of Campoli
5)Signed Wiz instead of Markov
Edit:6) Done nothing, I love this team the way it is.

1: No one out there better than JM, best of the bunch. Hate it but don’t forget the stupid language issue.
2: Not sure or anyone, maybe Jim Nill from Det, but he aint leaving there and don’t 4get language issue again. Plus PG has done a decent job as GM.
3: Signed Boyd Gordon but he signed for 3 years, a little too much for a 4th liner.
4: Hannan
5:HELLLLL NO!!!!!

I don’t know the GM candidates well but I’d pick someone known for a) having a clear no-nonsense philosophy (if Gauthier has one I don’t know what it is), b) building with the draft and with trades where necessary c) a long term vision and d) understanding the need for toughness and e) standing up for his players. Let him fire Martin if Martin isn’t doing the job. And then I’d give myself a raise and go to Schwartz’s.

1) Fire JM and replace with Youppi or Timo.
2) PG undecided, his moves have been ok. If guys are injured it is not his fault.
3) A rugged 4th line forward that plays what? 8 minutes? Not a significant move when we have far bigger problems.
4) Campoli is injured. It is not really fair to hang the guy when he hasn’t played for us.
5) Signed Wiz AND Markov, then traded Wiz in March if Markov was healthy.
6) Sent Gomez to Hamilton for the purpose of sending a message to our other players and future free agents. The golf club is closed for the winter.
7) I don’t have a problem with Gionta as a useful team guy, but as a captain of the Montreal Canadiens, following Saku, Muller, Carbo, Gainey… back into the holy pantheon… sorry. I don’t think so.
8) I would also have taken Laraque after we got him to a secret cave in the Himalayas and kept him from turning Vegan, Green and soft.

The trap is the safest recipe for winning. As long as the players buy in, the coach looks like a genius. Fanatical supporters who fancy themselves intelligent fans, will buy it as well. But it makes most of the season awful to watch and it is why people in NJ, for example, don’t go to games. It also risks making players feel unfulfilled or “alienated” like the highest paid factory workers in the world. Right Scott? The trap probably promotes more depression and drug use than the enforcer role or headshots.

Habs teams could adjust and play different styles depending on the opponent, also if they trapped (or the contemporaneous version thereof) they could counter punch with their speed and fire power.

Scotty kept a taxi squad of half a dozen guys he could plug in and out to beef up or add scoring or texture. Obviously in cap land we can’t do that now, but Scotty and most Habs coaches could adjust to different situations, unlike JM.

Ask Tampa and Jersey how the neutral zone trap is working. Pretty hard to trap “NJ devils style” when there’s no center line to stop the two line pass. Pretty hard to use the 1-3-1 when the other team refuses to walk into it lol

Re: the Lucic/Miller thing, I absolutely cannot stand Lucic, but I don’t see how what he did is suspension-worthy. It’s illegal, sure, and a bastard thing to do, probably deserving of four minutes instead of the two he got. But there’s no rule against checking the goalie — really hard, even — if he’s wandered out of his crease. I can’t believe I find myself defending that sack of garbage, but Lucic didn’t leave his feet or hit Miller in the head. Aside from the charging, it’s technically a clean hit.

There’s an unwritten rule in hockey that you just don’t run the goalie. But the thing with unwritten rules is that they can’t be enforced by the refs or the league — they’re enforced (or not) by the players. I hate to say it, but if the players neglect their responsibilities, and allow a goon to smirk his way to the penalty box for a two-minute break, they have no one to be angry at but themselves.

Mike Boone: “With Gainey at my side, I’d walk into any dark alley in the world.”

There IS a rule about hitting the goalie outside of his crease. A player MUST make an effort to avoid contact with goaltenders wherever they are. Incidental contact is permitted. Lucic’s hit was not incidental…he lined him up and drilled him.

I can’t stand Lucic either. He was the last Bruin to touch the puck, knocking it down ice then chasing after it. Millar came out and cleared the puck off to the boards just as Lucic arrives. You can see Lucic reach towards the puck being cleared as Millar tilts his elbow towards Lucic, and Lucic hits him. Millar going down tries to slash Lucic with his stick. Later Millar leaves the game.

Look Millar has been playing like…well pretty bad. He is high strung. Lucic plays mean, and is meaner in the crease. This is all a soap. Lucic did what the league condones and Millar needs a break. Two minutes and Millar is lucky he didn’t get a couple for trying to injure.

The coaches never tell the team to back off. It’s human nature to take less chances when leading. Practically the only time I see a team keeping the pedal to the metal is when I see a highschool game. And, usually, one side is so much better that it’s ridiculous.

How is it that with Carbo the Habs were in the top half of scoring in the league (even leading the league one year) but when JM takes over with a more talented group we can’t crack the top 20?

I’m all about playing disciplined hockey but I’m just sick of JM. Somebody needs to take that notebook from him and write in it, “Take Pleks off the PP point” and “Darche has no business playing the PP”.

“I kind of feel sorry for players who never got a chance to be a Montreal Canadien” – Cammalleri

That one year was exciting. It seemed as though they were building a contender with old-fashioned exciting hockey. Then the team imploded, and I believe that [poor] coaching certainly had something to do with it.

If we accept the story that Martin is a great defensive coach, than why can’t we win a game in which we lead 2-0 with twenty minutes left against a demoralized team who have just lost their star goalie?

Exactly.

We know he can’t coach offense. And obviously he can’t coach defense either. (if we were 10 and 2 having won 10 games 1-0 and 2-1 a la Coco I don’t think we would be complaining too bitterly).

In summary, he can’t coach offense. He can’t coach defense… there ain’t much else besides telling the guys when it’s their turn to go on… oh crap, he’s not so good at that either…

Does he bring PG a vegan muffin every morning? What?

Fire his sorry ass or let him coach the Argos secondary. Like we’d care.

Don’t you understand that this season is pretty much toast due to our bad start? Do the math. New Jersey couldn’t catch up last year and it is highly unlikely we will unless other teams implode or have worse injuries than Habs.

Yes we have injuries. So does Pittsburgh. Blysma is out coaching Martin, Ruff out coached Martin last night, the list goes on.

Following last nights loss, could not help but dream (again) that a Paul Gaustad will don a Habs jersey in my lifetime. He’s intense, wins faceoffs, is a strong skater and an even harder hitter. One can dream …

I know what you mean.
After the Preds game, I was thinking…..why do we overpay for guys like Gionta and Cammy (I realize timing plays a factor in all this). Why not overpay for a guy like Shea Weber ? Throw all the money you can at him. Make it the biggest contract in the league. If Bobo was gonna do it for Vinny L. why not a guy like Weber who you know is gonna own this league and the hockey world for the next while.

Just like to be wishful sometimes I guess ? I realize it won’t happen, but if there was a fire sale…………?

I’m not a fan of JM, but one thing he’s good at is getting the most out of an injury riddled line-up.

I agree with everything you say about Moen/Eller/Darche/Pleks (who’s this #11 you speak of??). However, I think the 2 giveaways (PK, Cole) were more costly than any coaching decisions made in last night’s game.

If a coach gets 5 of 6 points with this line-up, he’s getting results. You might not like how he’s doing it, but the results are there.

Markov hurt for 2 years and not replaced on the roster is a bigger killer to this team. He makes the team including Gomez better. No miracle worker, but his presence the past two years I miss more than a struggling Gomez.

Watching Andrei’s interview, this guy is sick and tired of when. I really hope the knee is right and this guy can show all of us once again how talented he is.

And this summer they thought he would be able to play at the beginning of the season. But as is usually the case with injuries, there’s uncertainty. People seriously need to relax, this team has done quite well despite the adversity, wait til Markov comes back, everyone will be calling JM and PG geniuses.

Some thoughts. Subban’s bad play cost us a game but I’ll forgive him. Hate the shootout but Price has got to practice stopping breakaways, if it’s going to be that important and PK should have been given a shot to make up for his mistake by having a go. The call against Cole in OT was awful but he should be smart enough not to skate through the crease and risk that call when the goalie leans out an elbow. Shanahan has caught the NHL front office disease and the Bruins’r’goons apparently can do no wrong. Pathetic.

He said it seems like you don’t understand it, based on what you wrote. Typically, comments like yours are written by people who don’t understand how the salary cap works. Not in this case, though. Right?

First of all, the NHL is a job. How many times have you decided to stay at the same job for much less pay, way more taxes…because the GM says “c’mon dude, please”. Had we paid market value for Wiz and Hammer (and yes, market value is what someone is willing to pay), we would not have been able to keep Markov, Big Tits, and certainly not both Price or PK next year. It was smart move to let them go – they wanted multiple year deals because of their age. This will be Hammer’s last contract…so of course he wanted multiple.
The Diaz, Emelin experiment was the right move – the longer term injury to Markov, Spacek and Campo have not worked out so far but it was still the right move.
Wiz at $5 mil = 8 games, -9.
Hammer = 1 pt. -3, played 9mins last game.

Hammer has the lowest +/- on Washington now at what 3 milllion a year and Wiz is TERRIBLE in Columbus with what a 5.5 mill contract?

So lets get this straight, you want to overpay 2 vets that are not earning there money to get rid of 2 young kids from overseas? Yet you have nothing bad to say about Gomez or the rest of the supporting crew.

Any Dogs fans notice how very sad it’s getting in Hamilton. With the call ups of Palushaj and Enqvist, and now possibly St. Denis, where is Jodoin going to get players? I watched the very big, strong, well-organized Red Wings farm team pound the Dogs 8-0 last Friday night.

Can anyone help? How Jacques Martin on the one hand change a line combination after 12 seconds it it does not produce scoring chances while on the other hand he tolearates a bizarre “power play” #1 unit that has given up more goals than it has scored – for weeks!! Please don’t tell me that JM is really twins, that would be just too depressing.

i cant watch the video cause i am at work but reading the quotes , it doesnt tell me theres too much confidence in Markov returning soon , kinda like they are waiting for the next setback , why cant he just say i am one or two months away if things go as planned , getting really fustrating being a hab fan the last couple weeks , hope the summit turns things around ,

Brendan Shanahan is just another puppet of the current NHL regime & simply does what he’s told to do by Buttman etc…
I have 4 words for Brendan: NO BALLS, NO GLORY.
When something happens to Luc(shit) & something will, the NHL has no one else to blame but themselves.

Shanny had an opportunity to bring credibilty back to the league after the debacle last season with colon campbell. He started out like he was going to set a new standand in discipline and player safety. But it looks like either the owners or g.m.’s were getting pissed at him for the hefty suspensions and have since retracted back to last season’s standards. Shanny’s lack of action on the lucic hit yesterday has set a standard that now makes it open season on goaltenders from the rest of the league’s scumbags.

Everyone’s bitching about the PP not working but we had MAB (granted not good in the defensive role) and Wiz (good in both zones and Gritty) and declined not to sign them. Also concerning above mentioned, many posters were also not to fond of them but a chirping a different tune now that the PP sucks. Never trade or release a player unless you know who your getting can do a better job.

I’ve come to a conclusion that one of the major problems with the Canadiens is the lack of heart and respect towards the organization’s history and legacy. Guys like Diaz and Emelin probably don’t even know the importance of Rocket and probably don’t even know who Toe Blake is and what he accomplished with the Habs. They don’t give a crap about the fans and the rich past of Les Glorieux (do they even understand that term?)they just want a pay check. To think we lost Wiz, Hamrlik and Sopel to these 2 clowns. Do they even know the organization has 24 stanley cups?

And Price? What the hell? Does he ever practice one on one shots with his teamates? He makes “Red Light” Racicot look like a god. Last night’s shoot out was f’ing embarrasing.

You mean “Red Light” was not a God? May the curse of the Pharoah be laid upon you and a jihad started upon you for this remark. May the revenge of Allah be brought upon you and your flock of unbelievers.

Was there a pop quiz in the 3rd period where the Habs rookies were supposed to know who the Rocket was? Is that why Buffalo scored twice. The one game I miss this year and they hold a history pop quiz in the 3rd period.

Yeah, they blocked out the names on the retired jersey banners and the defense had to fill in the correct names. Apparently two were missed so Buffalo got an uncontested shot on goal.
Next week, the forwards have to recite the years we won the Cup in reverse chronological order.

I’ve read many, many posts on here over the past several years, and honestly don’t recall a more asinine statement than the one you just posted. Do you honestly think Wiz gives 2 s&#ts about the history of the Habs? The guy turned down the class of the league, Detroit, (sorry guys, you know it’s true, at least for the past 15 years) to play for Columbus because they wouldn’t pay him 5 mill (which he is nowhere near worth).

Also, have you not seen Diaz play this year? He’s turning into a very worthwhile puck moving defensemen. As for Emelin, he’s played all of 9 games on NHL sized ice, and he’s already making a physical impact. Something almost all of us here have said MTL has been lacking recently.

Don’t even get me started Soaps. Yes he would throw himself in front of pucks, but that’s because he wasn’t skilled enough to stop the play any other way. He gave Gill a run for his money for slowest foot speed on the team.

And if you can’t recognize Price as an all-star caliber goalie, then you know about as much about the position as my niece’s goldfish. He got deaked out of his pants last night. Get over it, it happens to EVERY goalie. How’s Halak doing this year?

If it’s a high from firing someone that gets the boys motivated, well, let’s fire someone then… anyone willl do! It looks like JM is immune for a while, so fire the waterboy.
———————
When the tough gets going, the laughs start flowing. Like Price said, “Chill.”

I can’t believe that Lucic wasn’t suspended or fined. This is second time that Bruins got away with discipline. Last season it was Chara.
Maybe I don’t see things the way our disciplinarians sees it but when players use their hands or arms to hit someone I feel that there is some intent to injure. I really think Brendan Shanahan blew this one.

Lucic was well-described by Miller. Lucic will keep going head-hunting goalies and those smaller than him because he has just been given carte blanche. He concussed Miller, and should be out as long as Miller is out. But, in real life, Shanahan is just another effing joke the NHL has thrown out to pretend to discipline the players.

And both hits came from very large players who shouldn’t be punished for making the same plays as 1000s of other players over the years for that reason.

And you can’t really prove that Lucic sped up to hit Miller. He was racing for the puck just like Miller.

Believe me, I hate Lucic and Chara, but they’re huge and very strong and if people are injured by them on borderline plays because of their size and strength, there’s nothing you can really do about it.

No but it is his fault that he is a pu$$y that picks his fights and goes after none fighters… Remember when Laracque was here? Why was’nt Lucy running around with a big mouth back then? He was hiding behind the refs everytime BGL went after him…
He had no intention of slowing down and reducing the impact on that hit, and if you have any knowledge about hockey you would know that running a goalie is cheap CHEAP shot in the unwritten rules…

Thornton challenged Cooke the next game and lets wait till the Bruins play Van with nothing on the line before we pass judgement on the Horton incident….get a clue…Bruins consistently punk everyone – but prolly take the most pleasure in doing it to the Habs.

So there very little possible replacements for Martin when I asked the question below. I will say this: I don’t like his selection of players for certain situations and I certainly don’t like that he shits on our youth but one cannot overlook the job he has done keeping us in contention when you take all of the injuries and inconsistent play of some of our key players> like or not Gomez, Price, Gionta, Cammerleri, Subban have been very ordinary!

I was watching the NBC broadcast of the Canadiens game yesterday with everybody’s favourite analyst, Pierre McGuire.

McGuire stated that Subban may appear to be more ordinary but he’s settled down and is playing much better defense.

And once Markov is back, the back end on the PP will be 100% better because there will be two weapons to worry about and not just PK’s shot.

And i think Martin handles the young players well. they all seem to be making progress. look and Pacioretty last year. martin and Gauthier lit a fire under his ass and he responded very well. Look at Subban as well.

#1 Darche needs to be on the 3rd or fourth line.
#2 Plecks off the pp point
#3 dont give Gomer more than 10 min icetime per game till he gets a goal.
#4 do whatever it takes to get Kirk Muller back!!! please!!!

Actually, I didn’t make it downtown at all. I’m under the impression that I didn’t miss much……
Supposedly they’re building a new skyscraper?
Sorry about the lack of wobblypops Timo, bank them for the next time I’m out there.

The last time i visited Montreal i didn’t see one single hobo downtown. not one. You know what the worst part about Calgary is? If your name is Jones you get treated with the same socio-economic respect as if your name was Jolicoeur. That’s the worst thing of all. The respect people have for eachother regardless of the language they speak or school district their kids attend or some plains of abraham bullshit battle from a couple hundred years ago. God, if you’re listening, make Calgary more like Quebec.

We all have different experiences. I remember checking out a map at a gas station in Calgary, and two different drivers came running over to see if they could help. One had me follow him to close to my destination. I call that pretty friendly. And it sure wouldn’t happen in Montreal — or most other places.

“we” ? we didn’t agree with anything. A guy can’t play JM’s system doesn’t stay on the team. Conform or get out is JM’s way. Engqvist has played slightly over 20 mins with the Canadiens. Who the F can judge a player with so little ice time? his longest stretch was 7 mins. Wooo! give me a break.

Afternoon all,
Just a couple of things because I can’t stay on here long today: I have to get back down in the mine or else my family will starve and die.

1) I agree with most of you that JM is not doing a fantastic job. I’m disappointed with his use of Pleks on the point (although isn’t Randy doing special teams? Is it his fault?) and his dependance on Darche. I don’t like that Emelin/Yemelin isn’t getting more ice-time, because he’s dishing out some pretty sweet hits, and I sometimes wish he’d lean over to Nokia or Blunden or whoever, and say, “See that guy? Go beat the snot outta him.”

In Martin’s favour (please, I’m working hard on this) is that the team is playing much better most of the time than in his first year. They spend a lot more time in the O-zone and much less in the D-zone. Most of the time, or at least a lot more than once upon a time, they are getting out of their zone more efficiently than previously. They are getting more shots and allowing fewer. This is the way that I am seeing it, but I don’t pretend to see the ins and outs of the game, so feel free to correct me.

i don’t remember all the games but when the season first started we were out shooting teams hence we were in the other teams zone more than not, i think your right. recently we adopted a 2 man forecheck useing our speed..this worked and we seemed to be better.
now we seem to be useing the trap more than the forechek system. iam assuming JM makes these changes based on who the team plays and who is playing (injuries). it makes it hard to form some type of identity. i do get the sense that the overall team play has been better than previous years but with all the injuries its hard to put all the right pieces together and get a consistent effort.
The team still is missing lots of parts not even sure the return of full and healthy roster will make for a great season.

Agree. We see a lot less dump-and-chase than we used to, and zone clearances are less laborious. I think we’re also getting more quality chances. The powerplay isn’t working, and I’d like to see JM use Spacek or Gorges on the point rather than Plekanec. But penalty killing is excellent, the defence is much more solid than it was the first year or at the beginning of this, and I think the team is playing a slightly more offensive style. Actually quite a lot of things in JM’s favour. Oh yes, we’ve started winning games. That too. Before last night’s game, I didn’t expect us to get a point with all the injuries, so I can’t be too dissatisfied.

Okay I’ve been trying to stay out of it this morning but I can’t. My head will explode if I have to keep watching:

The absurd misuse of our #1 centre. It’s the coach’s job to get the most from this player. That doesn’t mean watching him fumble on the point making awkward passes & taking weak shots. The PP sucks not because Plex is on the point but because he isn’t down low where you need him. Plus the guy is gassed from PP/PK duty & drawing the tough assignments. JM’s probably got him sharpening skates & washing his car too.

The insistence on playing Diaz way too much while Emelin sits. I know there’s a language issue and it will help once Markov & AK are back in the lineup. But he brings what we need & don’t have. We already have Diaz. Weber is that small, Swiss, quick, right-handed, young defenceman with a good shot. Once Markov & Campo are back I want to see Diaz in Hamilton.

What HH refers to as the 0-1-4 defence. Immediately after “The Pearning™” we saw a persistent 2 man forecheck and it worked really well. Why did they stop?
Any more TMMOTI penalties
Darche on the PP
Eller benched
Cammy killing penalties

I could really get on a roll here but I have to do at least some work today. At least I’m alone and I can still mumble under my breath.

On the shootout, or behind the bench?
I think they can try anyone on the shootout, throw some guy the other team probably has not scouted, DD, Eller, Subban, Cole…
As for behind the bench, I’d still try Randy, and look for a permanent solution during the rest of the year.

It wouldn’t bother me to watch the two Randys take the wheel while we figure something out. I think you have to give him until Markov comes back for a while. That should be late into December at least and by then we’ll have that killer road trip. That should string together a few ugly Ls and that should be about enough rope.

I know most of us don’t like martin – the question we should be asking our selves – could we do better – some people may think so – personnaly myself no – and when you have a team that picks up an injury almost every game – how can you move up in the standings – if this team can ever get all the regulars back – they’ll surprise a lot of people – I find we’re to easy to knock them all the time – gotta wait til we have our regular team – than and only than will we see the real Habs – could be good enough to win it all.

Nine times the Habs have been tied or held a lead going into the third and here is what happened:

-Winnipeg – up 2-0 going into the third. Habs get outshot 14-6 in the third.
– Florida – tied 1-1 going into the third. Habs get outshot 13-11 in the third
-Philly – up 3-1 going into the third. Habs outshoot Philly 12-4 in the third
– Boston – 1-1 going into the third. Shots are tied at 11-11 in the third
– Boston – up 3-1 going into the third. Habs get outshot 11-2 in the third.
– Ottawa – up 2-0 going into the third. Habs get outshot 16-4 in the third
-Phoenix – up 2-1 going into the third. Habs get outshot 10-7 in the third
Nashville – tied 1-1 going into the third. Habs outshoot Nash 9-8 in -the third
-Buffalo – up 2-0 going into the third. Habs get outshot 10-4 in the third.

My point: We never put the gas pedal down in the third period. It’s almost as if Montreal is playing not to lose, rather than to win the game. When Montreal is tied or leading going into the third period, they are outshot a combined 66-97.

Without taking away from our desperate opponents who are trying to make a comeback in the third, Montreal needs to have more of a killer instinct. I’m quite fed up with watching us come out on the defensive in every game where we hold a lead. These on-the-edge-of-your-seat one goal squeakers are not cutting it.

I’m so sick of seing Darche on the top 2 lines and on the PP!!! What has he done? Is Martin seing something im not??? His breakaway last night was just pathetic! And mr 8 million dollar man starting to find excuses for his non productivness. How bout u start fighting for the puck not chip it in and try to avoid a hit! He’s so scared!!! arghh!!!! WE NEED A COACH CHANGE ASAP!!!!

Name one coach that would have done a better job than JM this year. They need to fit the criteria for doing the job and not be under contract to another team (or would have been available this past off season) The list is very short!

Just wondering, it’s a slow news day since Markov is not cleared for contact, Gomez showed up and we learned that Price will leave for Vancouver as soon as he is UFA due to lack of a commitment to winning here in Habstown.

Ya I hear ya. I don’t know what the do’s or don’ts are like when dealing with issues like this.

But I was reading further down and someone said be prepared to give up four 1st round picks to get a guy like Weber. I’d do it. When are you gonna draft a guy like this again ? For Stamkos……no IMO, but Weber is simply a beast.

If Weber makes it to UFA status, buy out Gomez, ask Price and Subban to accept slightly lower than their market value and sign Weber to a contract worth whatever he heart desires. It’s about time we sign a ‘sure thing’ as opposed to the question marks we’ve been signing for the last few years.

In all cases in which an attacking player initiates intentional or deliberate contact with a goalkeeper, whether or not the goalkeeper is inside or outside the goal crease, and whether or not a goal is scored, the attacking player will receive a penalty (minor or major, as the Referee deems appropriate).

So the ref could have gone up to a 5-minute penalty, and elected for 2 minutes instead. Is there any kind of precedent for a suspension for this sort of thing?

Mike Boone: “With Gainey at my side, I’d walk into any dark alley in the world.”

Haha, we have enough to complain about right now without worrying about the ill-fated Wickenheiser pick.

People forget that Wickenheiser was pretty hard not to draft that year: 89 goals and 170 points in 71 games in a tougher Junior league than Savard played in. He was the top-rated prospect that year. Plus at 6’1, 200lbs he was a good-sized player for 1980.

Savard wasn’t even drafted second. Dave Babych was. Go figure.

Wickenheiser should have worked out, hard to fault anyone for drafting him at the time.

Wickenheiser was the proper pick. Big centre best junior player. The draft is a crapshoot. You are picking young athletes. It would be nice to have a crystal ball. Lafleur took off in his 4th yr, till then Sam pollock was critiqued for not picking Dionne or Rick Martin. That time, patience prevailed. It is so easy and very uncool to be Monday Morning Quarterbacks.

Could you imagine if this site existed that long ago and the habs picked a 5’10” 170lb savard over a much bigger center who put up the numbers wickenhiser did? Its like critcizing ottawa for picking daigle. He was the best junior player in hockey by a mile and probably would have been taken by any other g.m. who was in that very position.

I hate the skills competition. It sickens me to see a game decided by a shoot out. I never liked it in Olympics hockey either but at least there I can tolerate it, barely.

I’d rather they make the OT 10 minutes of 4 on 4 and if nothing is settled, make it 10 minutes of 3 on 3. For the love of hockey remove the shoot out as a deciding factor. It’s as bad as the blue streak.

SO selection shouldn’t be used as a reward for a player having a good game. I don’t care if he just dumped your daughter, if the guy has the best chance of putting the puck in the net, he should be out there.